SimpliPhi Power has unveiled its “Energize California” initiative in response to statewide “public safety power shutoffs” (PSPS) by PG&E, SCE and SDG&E that are projected to impact up to 11 million Californians. The company’s goal is to empower businesses and homeowners statewide and equip them with the capacity to store and utilize power on their terms to make it through a PSPS, or any other grid outage.
“We are a California company whose Ventura County-based employees and business operations are as vulnerable to PSPSs as our neighbors statewide, so we understand how critical deploying safe, reliable emergency back-up power is to avoid losses and mitigate the impact of these shutoffs,” explains SimpliPhi CEO Catherine Von Burg. “No home or business needs to be left in the dark. SimpliPhi’s storage solutions — proven around the globe for nearly a decade — are available today to keep the lights on during emergencies. Together with the utilities and California’s renewable energy industry, we can and need to act quickly to get backup power solutions into the hands of residents and business owners. Our collective safety and the state’s economic well-being are at stake.”
To spearhead what SimpliPhi anticipates will be a widespread California energy industry coalition effort, the company is offering special discounts on its all-in-one AccESS energy storage and management system, the ExprESS fuel-free mobile generators and the Genny portable emergency power kits. The company’s products are a safer alternative to cobalt-based lithium-ion batteries prone to thermal runaway and fire. SimpliPhi uses only lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which is non-toxic, environmentally benign and does not pose a fire danger.
To expedite delivery and installation, the company is offering drop-shipping anywhere in California, or local pick up from its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Oxnard. Leading California renewable energy product suppliers UMA, CED Greentech, Soligent, WESCO and Civic Solar have already signed on to join the Energize California effort and are offering discounts on the AccESS, ExprESS and other equipment vital to building resilience in local, customer-sited energy storage systems.
“During the 2017 Thomas Fires and the 2018 Woolsey and Hill fires, we relied personally on the technology we design, manufacture and sell every day,” adds Von Burg. “Our own experience inspires our dedication to making sure that every Californian has the ability to safely and reliably generate their own power, store it, and utilize it on their terms — even taking it with them in an evacuation. Our commitment to Energize California is an expression of our greater, global mission.”
Utilities and energy industry companies interested in joining Energize California are asked to contact SimpliPhi at connect@simpliphipower.com. Businesses and homeowners who are interested in learning more about the Energize California Initiative and how to connect with an installer can visit: simpliphipower.com/residential-psps-solutions/ or simpliphipower.com/commercial-psps-solutions/.
With wildfire season in California upon us, residents face not only the likelihood that their power may be cut off by a wildfire, but also that their utility may preemptively turn off their power for days or weeks at a time as part of the planned PSPSs. Approximately 25% of the state’s population – 11 million people – currently live in areas classified as “high fire threat districts” by the CPUC.
PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E created these shutoffs to mitigate the risk of fire from damaged transmission lines in areas designated high-fire-threat district where a combination of extreme drought, new vegetation from recent rain and increasingly violent winds threaten the integrity of utility-owned infrastructure.
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